In order to characterize the present invention over the prior art, reference is made to systems found in the prior art for projecting a laser beam toward a target. Three examples are briefly described below.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,118,186 issued to J. Schrätzenstaller et al. on Jun. 2, 1992. This document discloses a sighting system for weapons wherein a single spot is projected toward a target.
US Patent Application 2003/0180692 filed by J. A. Skala et al. on Mar. 22, 2002. This document discloses an aim point tracking system, wherein the aiming mark projected is a crosshair made of two laser lines, extending horizontally and vertically respectively.
US Patent Application 2005/0278964 filed by S. Minica et al. on Jun. 17, 2004. This document discloses a laser targeting system mounted on an arrow point and projecting on a target, a dot where the arrow will hit once released.
Although the aiming systems of the prior art deserve undeniable merits, there is a need for an aiming system capable of projecting aiming beams generating a X-shaped mark on a target as opposed to a spot or a crosshair.
A spot mark is difficult to maintain in position on a colourful target, on a moving target, on a target partly hidden by camouflage material or on an object having numerous visual details thereon. Similarly, a crosshair is sometime difficult to adjust and to see on an object having a rounded shape such as a cylinder or a sphere or on an object having horizontal or vertical features, such as a building, a briefcase or other boxlike package.
It is believed that a need exists for an laser-projected aiming mark having the shape of a X. Even if such a X-shaped mark is only partly seen on a target, one can easily determine where the center of the mark is located, which make is much easier to adjust the mark to the target.
In the present context, a X-shaped mark is made of two lines intersecting each other and making different supplementary angles there between the lines. Preferably, neither line is perfectly horizontal or perfectly vertical.
In another aspect of aiming devices, the laser aiming systems of the prior art are aligned to an expected hit spot of a shot fired from a known distance. If that distance changes, the laser mark is no longer reliable. Therefore, there is a need for a laser aiming system that is relatively true regardless of the distance between the shooter and the target.